Top-spinning toy spring-gun



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

0. P. BRIGGS.

TQP SPINNING TQY SPRING GUN liwmim 8mm;

a l D Patented Aug. 14, 18888.

6 t 8 T 3 w M m N am W MW aaolwcv N4 PETERS mwmw npn-r. Wanhingwn. v.0

(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 2.

O. P. BRIGGS.

TOP SPINNING TOY SPRING GUN.

No. 387,761. Patented Aug. 14, 1888.

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ILUIZTLZOF/IV lhvrrnn drn'rns PATENT rrrcn.

ORLANDO P. BRIGGS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO GIIARLF S N.BRIGGS, OF LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.

TOP-SPINNING TOY SPRING-GUN.

EPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,761, dated August14-, 1888.

Application filed May 8, 1888.

To all whom, it? may concern:

Be it known that I, ORLANDO P. BRIGGS, of Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Toys; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear,andexact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

This invention relates to a novel toy in shape of a gun or pistoladapted both for spinning a top and for shooting a ball or marble.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter described, and pointedout in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is aside elevation of one convenient form thereof. Fig. 2 illustrates asectional view, on a large scale, of the rear or look part of the toy.Fig. 2" shows the muzzle part of the toy on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 isa detail planview of the parts shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detailsection taken upon line 4 4: of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detail section takenupon line 5 5 of Fig. 2". Fig. 6 is a side View of a top adapted for usewith the toy illustrated. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the toy whenmade in the form of a pistol and entirely of metal. Fig. 8 is a sectionof the same, taken upon line 8 8 of Fig. 7. Fig. 9 is a fragmentarysection illustrating a modification of the top-spinning devices.

The form of my invention, made to resemble a gun, is shown in Figs. 1 to5, and is made as follows:

A is the barrel, made of tubular form and of sheet metal and attached tothe wooden stock 13.

C is a rod arranged centrally within the barrel A, said rod being heldor guided at its rear end by means of a disk or piston, O, which his andslides within the barrel A, and at is front, and by means of afilling-piece,A, secured in the muzzle of the barrel, and pro vided witha central guide-passage, a, within which the forward end of the red 0fits and slides.

D is a spiral spring compressed between the piston O and an abuttingsurface, b, of the stool: B, at the rear end of the barrel.

(1 is a guide-rod secured in the stock and extending forward through thespring and through a notch, c, and the upper part of the piston G. Saidrod d reaches to a point beyond the forward limit of the throw of thesaid piston O, and is for the purpose of holding the spring I) inoperative position.

E is a detent-lever mounted upon a pivot, e, beneath the barrel A, therear end of said detent passing through a longitudinal slot in the lowerpart of the barrel in position to engage the piston 0 when the spring Dis compressed. Said detent E is held normally in position to engage thepiston C by means of a spring, E.

F is a trigger mounted upon a pivot,f, in the stock, and provided with ahorizontal part, F, having at its forward edge a notch, f, which engagesa projection, e, upon the detent E. By pulling the trigger backwardlythe rear end of the detent E is depressed and the piston 0' released toallow the spring to throw the rod 0 forward. The forward movement ofsaid rod is limited by a stop, herein shown as formed by means of aring, A secured in the barrel in position to engage the piston C.

C is an arm or handle attached to the rod Cand extending through a slot,a, in the under side of the barrel. Said arm or handle is adapted to begrasped by the hand or finger for the purpose of pulling the rodbackwardly and compressing the spring. G is a toothed bar or rackattached to the rod C and located within the barrel A, said rack-barbeing herein shown as made integral with the rod. In the side of thebarrel A, adjacent to the said rackbar, is an opening, A, around whichis desirably secured a re-enforcing plate, A", although this latter willnot be necessary in case the barrel is made otherwise than of thin sheetmetal.

H is a yielding spring or bar connected with the barrel over the openingA and opposite the rack-bar G, said bar being provided in its faceadjacent to the rack-bar with a concave cylindric recess, 7t. Said barH, in the particular construction shown, is connected with the barrel bymeans of a single flat steel spring, h, attached to one end of the bar.The said bar H is desirably provided with a fingerpiece or handle, H, atits free end, by which. it

opposite the socket h.

(Car

may be sprung or pushed away from the rackbar. Said rack-bar G and therecessed yielding barHtogether form the top-spinning part of the device.

I, Fig. 6, is the top,which is provided at its upper end with theeylindric toothed spindle I. In its main part or body the top may beofany common or preferred form. The toothed spindle I is adapted tointer-mesh with the rack-bar G, while its diameter is such as to fitwithin the semi'cylindric socket h in the yielding bar H. Said socket ismade perfectly smooth, so that the toothed spindle will turn freelytherein.

The top is inserted between the rack-bar and springbar when the rod 0 isthrust rearwardly and the spring D compressed, the forward end of therack-bar at this time being In its forward movement in the rear end therack-bar passes to a point forward of said socket. In placing the topinthe device the spring-bar H is thrust outward to allow the insertion ofthe spindle bet-ween the rack-bar and the bar H, the finger-piece Hbeing employed for this purpose if found necessary. After the spindle Iof the top has been inserted, the top will be held in engagement withthe rack-bar by the pressure of the said bar H. XVhen the parts are inthe position described, if the trigger is pulled and the rod released,the rack-bar will be thrown quickly forward, thereby giving rapid rotarymotion to the top,which latter will be released at the moment that therack-bar passes forward of the notch or socket h, when the top will dropon a surface beneath it and continue to spin. The toy is of course heldin such position as to maintain the topspindle vertical at the momentthe top is released.

The toy constructed as above described is adapted also for shootingballs or marbles by means of devices, as follows:

J J are spring-arms attached to the muzzle end of the barrel andextending forwardly therefrom. At the free ends of said arms are formedcup shaped holdersjj, adapted to sustain a ball or marble, j, in aposition in front of, and in alignment with the rod 0. Said rod is madeof such length that when released and thrown forward, in the mannerdescribed, it will strike the ball or marble, dislodge it from saidholders j j, and project it forward with considerable force.

B is a curved trigger-guard, desirably attached'to the stock 13 andextending around trigger F.

In Figs. 7 and 8 I have shown another desirable embodiment of myinvcntiomwherein the toy is made principally of cast metal and in formto resemble a pistol. The toy in this instance is formed in two parts orsections, K K, each consisting of a single casting, the sectionsbeingjoined together by rivets k 7t.

K is the barrel part of the pistol,formed by opposite longitudinalrecesses in the castings K K, which recesses are arranged to form guidesfor a longitndinallyqnovable rod, L,

which slides therein. Said rod is moved by means of a spiral spring, M,placed between it and a transverse wall, It, at the inner end of thebarrel. Said rod is provided adjacent to the forward end of the springwith a depending lug, Z, adapted to engage a detent, N, which isactuated by a spring, N, and a trigger, 0, arranged in the same mannerasis the corresponding parts shown in Fig. 2. The said detent N andtriggerO are mounted upon pivots n and o, secured in the castings K K.At its forward end the rod L is provided with a handle, L, extendingthrough a slot in the barrel to a point below the same in positionconvenient to be grasped by the hand or finger for compressing thespring,as clearly shown in the drawings.

P is a rack-bar formed or secured upon the outer edge of the rod L nearthe rear end of said rod.

Q, is a springbar provided with a semicyli ndricsoeket, q, arrangedopposite the rackbar P and adapted to engage the toothed spindle l of atop, I, in the same manner as is the similar bar shown in Fig. 2".

R R are springarms attached to a muzzle of the pistol and having socketsr '2', adapted to hold a marble between them. The rod L is in thisinstance provided with a cylindric prolongation, L", at its forward end,of proper length to act upon a marble held between the said arms whenthe rod is thrown forward by the springs. The operation of this deviceis similar to the one before described.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a somewhat different construction in a means forrevolving the top. In this instance the apparatus is pro vided with asliding rod, L, actuated in the same manner as is the rod L shown inFig.

7. The said rod L is without any teeth or.

rack-bar for engagement with the top, and the latter (indicated at 1 isprovided with a smooth or cylindrie spindle, 1", adapted for contactwith the smooth edge of said rod L, and adapted to be placed betweensaid rod and a spring or yielding bar, S, arranged parallcl thereto.Said spring-bar is attached to the main part of the device by means of aspring, 8, and is provided with anotch, 8, arranged opposite a shallowtransverse groove, Z,in the rod L. Said notches 8 Z are adapted toreceive the cylindric spindle 1 of the top and to hold said spindleaccurately at right angles to the bar, this being necessary to insurethe spindle remaining engaged with the said rod 1 and the bar S when thesaid bar L is moved endwise, in'the manner hereinafter described. Thespindle is held in place in said notches by the pressure of saidspringarm. A notch, s, is arranged at the rear end of the spring-rod S,while the notch Z is located at a considerable distance forward of therear end of the rod L. When the spindle of the top is placed in saidnotches 3 Z in the manner described, the said rod L being at therearward limit of its movement and the spring compressed when the saidrod is released and thrown forward, the spindle 1 will be rolled alongbetween the edge of the rod and bar S, and a rapid rotary motion willthereby be given to the top,the top of course being moved bodily torwardby the action of the moving rod. The top will be released at the forwardlimit of the movement of the rod L by the entrance of the spindle 1 intothe recess 3 in the sur ace of the spring-bar S. The same result will beproduced, however, in case the rear end of the said rod L passes forwardof the said spindle, which will occur when the parts are proportioned inthe particular manner shown.

Springer-ms T T, provided with sockets it, for holding the marble, areshown in Fig. 9as located within the barrel K, said arms being arrangedto hold the marble in the same manner as before described. Thisarrangement, however, conceals the greater part of said arms, therebygiving to the toy a greater resemblance to an ordinary pistol.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with a top provided with acyliudric spindle, of a spinning apparatus comprising alongitudinally-movable rod, a spring for actuating the same, a detentand trigger for holding the spring compressed and releasing the same,and a yielding bar opposing said rod and adapted to hold the cylindricspindle of the top in engagement with the rod when the latter is movedendwise, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a top provided with a cylindric toothedspindle, of a spinning device comprising a longitudinallymovable rodprovided with a rack-bar, a spring for moving said rod, a detent andtrigger for bold ing the spring compressed and releasing the same, and arecessed yielding bar opposing the raclcbar and adapted to hold thetoothed spi ndle of the top in engagement therewith, sub stantially asdescribed.

3. The herein-described toy having the form of a gun or pistol andprovided with a barrel, a sliding rod within the barrel, a spring foractuating the rod, a detent and trigger for holding the springcompressed and releasing the same, and a yielding bar having a recessopposed to the said sliding rod and adapted to receive and hold incontact with the rod the eylindric spindle of a top, substantially asdescribed.

4. The herein-described toyhaving the form of a gun or pistol, providedwith a barrel and a longitudi rally-movable rod therein, a spring foractuating the rod, a detent and trigger for holding the springcompressed and releasing the same, and spring-arms at the end of thebarrel provided with holders at their free ends to receive and hold aball or marble, substantially as described.

5. Theherein-described toy having the form of a gun or pistol andprovided with a barrel and a longitudinally-niovable rod within thebarrel, a spring for actuating the rod, adetent and trigger for holdingthe spring compressed and releasing the same, a spring bar provided witha recess opposing an edge of the rod and adapted to hold in engagementwith the rod the spindle of a top, and spring-arms attached to the endof the barrel and provided with holders adapted to sustain a marble orball in front of and in alignment with said rod, substantially asdescribed.

6. The herein-described toy having the form ofa gun or pistol andprovided with a slotted barrel, a 'longitudinallyanovable rod within thebarrel provided with an arm or handle extending through the slot of thesame, a spring actuating said rod, a detent and a trigger for holdingthe spring compressed and releasing the same, and a spring-bar providedwith a socket arranged in position opposed to the said rod and adaptedto hold the cylindric spindle of a top in engagement with the said rod,substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afiix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

ORLAKDO I. B'RlGGS.

\Vitnesses:

O. Cir-runners Poona,

B. ELLIAS.

